Never Forget
by Yaraslava Rada
Summary: Moving on after the fact isn't as easy as he thought...


It's dark…somehow I know I'm crammed in that blasted box, with no chance of escape. She's in the room…Mr. Todd enters. There's a wet, splattering sound. A whoosh of air. Feet coming up the stairs.

"Where is she?" His voice, oh god, his voice.

"Here, your honor." Betrayal! Anthony told me I'd be safe from him here!

"Is she now?"

"Oh, yes sir. She's right in HERE!" How? How'd he know I was here? They drag me out by my hair; the cap fell. The judge takes me there, in front of the barber…

Oh god, oh god, oh god no. "NO!" Luck's never real you know, when you're captive…

"Johanna!" Anthony yells as he enters the scene. Oh god, get out! Anthony get out! Mr. Todd grabs him from behind and slits his throat.

"NO!"

~STtDBoFS~

"Johanna! Johanna! I want you! I need you! Now! Come girl, NOW! No disobeying me! I have to have you this second!"

"NO!"

~STtDBoFS~

"How seldom it is one meets a fellow spirit…"

"With fellow tastes…in women at least…"

God, the barber wants me too? Oh god, oh god, oh god…It's too much! I can't. I won't! Oh please no! The judge is bad enough, Anthony I can deal with, but another man old enough to be my father? NO!

~STtDBoFS~

"What's that?"

"The years no doubt have changed me, sir. But then I suppose the face of a barber, the face of a prisoner from the dock, isn't very memorable."

"Benjamin Barker!"

"BENJAMIN BARKER!"

A wet sound, a whoosh of air…the silence is disturbing. Softly, from the silence, a voice sings of the end. Slowly, very slowly, as to not make a sound, I peer out of the box. He hears me anyway, or sees motion out of the corner of his eye, either way I'm hefted out of the box and placed on the chair…I can smell the Judge and the Beadle…a metallic smell follows quickly after, and it takes me a moment to realize it's blood. I look at his face, really look…it's a demon's face that stares back. He searches my face, begging me to give him a reason to kill me. I jerk back and my cap slips of. A gasp in stereo. He gasped too. His hand catches my hair.

"Johanna…" He says shocked. A scream chills the air. I can tell he recognizes the voice, although I don't. "I love you…" He says before leaving. I wonder what he meant. I sit in shock; this close to being murdered…and my almost-killer tells me he loves me.

~STtDBoFS~

"What's that?"

"The years no doubt have changed me, sir. But then I suppose the face of a barber, the face of a prisoner from the dock, isn't very memorable."

"Benjamin Barker!"

"BENJAMIN BARKER!"

Daddy? Mr. Todd is my daddy? Nanny told me his name was Barker…she told me all about mommy and daddy, got her hung it did…Nanny? Is this daddy? I have to know…

I raise my head and he jumps.

"Come for a shave, have you, my lad?"

"No I-Daddy?" I ask taking off my hat. My hair falls to my shoulders and he stares in shock.

"Johanna?" His voice cracks. His face is covered in blood, but he's my daddy.

"Daddy!"

"Johanna!" He hugs me, smearing the Judge's blood on my face. After a minute he pulls back to examine me. "My pet…" He gently wipes the blood from my face and his hands. He killed the judge for me…

"Thank you, Daddy." I hear the lady scream, but Daddy's oblivious…a few minutes later an acrid smell fills the air. I want to choke, but Daddy keeps holding me. A carriage is heard below. Daddy pulls away to clean himself up. Anthony comes up and Daddy is holding me again.

"Mr. Todd?" He asks cutely confused.

"She's pretty as her mother…" Daddy says looking down at me.

"Daddy…" I whisper, almost afraid to lose him.

"It's okay, Johanna. Boy. You'd better take damn good care of her."

"Daddy…"

"Of course sir."

"Good bye, Johanna. I'm fine, Johanna. I love you, my pet."

"G'bye Daddy…I love you too."

~STtDBoFS~

"Come for a shave, have you, my lad?"

"No-I-"

"Everyone needs a good shave."

"But I'm-"

"Now, now, don't be shy. It'll all be over before you know it…" The blood down his face, he's impossibly strong, I'm impossibly weak. I can't fight him, he grins into my face taking pleasure from my fear.

"Johanna." He says. "Johanna…Johanna!" His blade pressed to my throat-"Johanna! Wake up!" I sit up with a gasp. "It's okay Johanna….It's okay…I'm here…you're fine…"

"Oh, Anthony…I told you they never really go away…"

"It's alright my dear, it's alright…shhh…"


End file.
